pondering, parenting, poetry and prose

Menu

About me

I’m Maddy, a writer, illustrator and cheese-lover living in Northumberland with my husband and three young sons.

I started this blog back in 2013 when our youngest son was only a few months old. My ‘Writing Bubble’ was the little bit of time I’d found – amidst the general chaos of life – to pursue my ambition to become a published author, and I planned to use the blog to write about that.

At the time it was a rather soft-focused ambition – I imagined drinking cups of tea and gazing dreamily into the middle-distance while amazing works of literature flowed magically from my pen. That vision turned out to clash with the reality – writing desperate poems about sleep deprivation in my head while sitting in the dark by my son’s cot… but what better therapy than to blog all about it?!

But best of all, this blog became a way of connecting with other writers. Writing can be a lonely pursuit but through blogging I’ve found a whole host of like-minded people with whom to share the ups and downs of a creative life. I was an editor of the BritMums poetry and prose round up for over two years, have attended inspiring blogging and writing conferences and, what makes me happiest of all, have turned Writing Bubble into its own little hub of creative connection through my ‘What I’m Writing’ community. I have found my tribe (as they say) and I wouldn’t be without them for all the world.

And yes, you may have spotted the ‘illustrator’ bit at the start – that’s been an unexpected journey of its own! I have Foundation Degree in Art from back in the day and ran my own creative business before the kids came along, but I had rather abandoned that side of myself until a couple of years ago. But as I threw myself into writing, I was continually drawn towards writing for kids. Limericks and picture books increasingly became my focus and I started thinking about dusting off my pens and pencils and having a go at illustrating my own work. I’ve recently completed a Diploma in Illustration from London Art College and while studying for that I began working as an illustrator too – the first book I’ve illustrated is out on the shelves and I also run a small greetings card business.

Four years of blogging down the line and my ideal (future, dream) existence now involves me writing and illustrating my own work. I’ll get there one day, I hope. And it will absolutely, certainly, definitely involve drinking cups of tea and gazing dreamily into the middle-distance

Thanks for reading.

Maddy

Contact details:

If you’d like to get in touch you can find me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram or email me at maddy@writingbubble.co.uk

Or you could just leave me a comment – I love them!

‘We will brave this storm together.’ I drew this last year as the General election neared and tensions rose…

Hi Maddy, nice to meet my Camp NaNo cabin mate over here! I am also working round children at the moment, but both of mine are pre-schoolers. The youngest will be one next week, which probably explains why I’m struggling to keep up the writing challenge. Anyway, see you around!

Hi Catherine, thanks for popping over. Yes, writing with small kids around is a challenge! My youngest is only 17 months but my older two are usually at school which makes things easier. Finding time for CampNaNo when summer holidays started was tricky. Hope you make your target!

Lovely to discover you. I’m dabbling in a bit of writing myself and also freelance for https://www.britainsnextbestseller.co.uk/ talent scouting for new writers. Check us out and let me know if you’d like to crowd fund a book deal! No worries, either way. I shall continue to follow your writing journey anyway.

James Thurber is so right – I love this quote. It sums up exactly the same reason I started a blog and what motivates me to click publish when its often not perfect (esp when writing poetry which i’ve only recently started for fun, inspired by other fellow bloggers like Vic Welton and the Paper Swans ladies. I’m not planning on writing a novel, but creative non-fiction is something which has flourished for me since blogging. PS Love what I’ve read of yours so far!